Colorado Daily – UCLA Week

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Colorado Daily – UCLA Week

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October 28th – Game Day!

… CU in a few minutes … 

“Every snap has got to be important to you, every single one”

From the Daily Camera … The Stanford loss, perhaps more than any other, showed that head coach Deion Sanders and his staff still has work to do in order to establish the discipline needed to win consistently.

“Discipline does not just start on the field,” Sanders said. “Discipline starts off the field and they carry it on the field. A dude that’s undisciplined off the field, he’s going to be undisciplined on the field and you can’t allow that. That’s something that we’ve got to address, because if you’re late to this, you’re pretty much going to be undisciplined with that. If you’re not consistent in following your assignments and alignments and this, you’re going to be inconsistent when everybody’s sprinkled in that stadium with that. So inconsistencies … it’s consistent with who makes those mistakes.”

Playing in the Pac-12 doesn’t give CU any breaks, either. Beginning Saturday, the Buffs’ final five-game stretch includes three teams currently ranked in the Top 25 (UCLA, Oregon State and Utah), another that was there just a couple of weeks ago (Washington State) and another (Arizona) that routed Washington State to knock it out of the Top 25.

“The level of competition that we have each and every week, it’s a real, real challenge,” Brewster said. “But again, it’s, golly, just driving that point home about … you know, consistency in pride and performance. Every snap has got to be important to you, every single one, and we’re getting there.”

Saturday offers CU another opportunity to make a statement, not only to itself and its fans, but nationally. The Buffs are making good strides, but this is a big one for them to get to where they aim to go.

“Patience is not a word we allow,” Brewster said. “It’s not a word we allow in what we’re trying to accomplish. We are not going to be patient. We are not patient. We want to win and we want to win now. And to win now our guys just totally have to understand how important a Monday practice is, a Tuesday practice is and how that equates to winning on Saturday.

“We have to embrace the process, the hard work that it takes to win a football game, but you have to do that throughout the course of the whole week. We’ve got to continue to improve there.”

… Read full story here …

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October 27th

… CU in a few minutes … 

Can the Buffs find a way to score against the Pac-12’s No. 1 scoring defense?

From the Daily Camera … Players to Watch

DL Laiatu Latu: A mid-season All-American by multiple media outlets, he’s been a dominant force all season, posting 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. Over the past two seasons, he has 58 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, 17 sacks and five forced fumbles.

LB Kain Medrano: A fifth-year senior from Pueblo East High School, he’s enjoying his best season as a Bruin. He’s second on the team with 32 tackles and fourth with 6.0 tackles for loss. He also has two sacks.

OLB Gabriel Murphy: A 2022 transfer from North Texas, he has started all 19 games since coming to UCLA. This season, he has 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. In his college career, he has 17.5 sacks.

UCLA defense

During Chip Kelly’s first five years at UCLA, the Bruins had a bottom half of the Pac-12 defense. That prompted a change this year, with 34-year old D’Anton Lynn being hired as defensive coordinator after coaching the safeties for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. So far, Lynn has completely transformed the defense, as UCLA leads the Pac-12 in points allowed (14.9 per game), yards allowed (282.6 per game) and several other categories. The front seven has been particularly dominant, as the Bruins have generated 56 tackles for loss (second in the Pac-12) and 24 sacks (third). Six of UCLA’s seven opponents have scored 17 points or less.

How UCLA can win

When Chip Kelly teams can run the ball, they can win. During his UCLA tenure, the Bruins are 25-7 when they rush for at least 200 yards, and 7-24 when they don’t. In addition to hitting the 200-yard mark on the ground, the Bruins need to continue to play stellar defense and slow down CU’s potentially-dangerous offense.

… Read full story here …

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Neill Woelk’s Keys for the UCLA game

From CUBuffs.com … The last two weeks have been long ones for Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes.

That’s how long the Buffs have had to chew on their last outing, a 46-43 double overtime loss to Stanford that no doubt left a bad taste in their mouths.

But Saturday, they finally get the chance to sink their teeth into another game, a 5:30 p.m. (MT) matchup with No. 23 UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

Truth is, it’s more than just the Stanford game that has been gnawing on the Buffs. After a 3-0 start that vaulted CU into the nation’s top 25, Colorado (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) has lost three of its last four.

The biggest issue for Colorado in that stretch has been consistency on both sides of the ball. CU’s offense has been incredibly productive at times — and ineffective at others. The defense, meanwhile, has struggled to produce big stops on a steady basis.

The bottom line? Colorado is averaging more than 34 points per game while giving up nearly 36. Not since early in the season has CU managed to put together a solid 60-minute effort.

It won’t be easy to get back on track against the Bruins. UCLA’s defense has been outstanding this year, holding six opponents to fewer than 20 points and currently ranked 10th in the nation in scoring defense (14.9 points per game).

Meanwhile, the UCLA offense has been productive, averaging more than 31 points per game with a balanced attack that has produced 216 yards per game on the ground and 249 in the air.

So how do the Buffs get back to that point against Chip Kelly’s Bruins?

Our weekly Fast Five:

1. Win the third- and fourth-down conversion battle. Prior to the Stanford game, Colorado had been solid in this area. But the Buffs were just 6-for-13 on third downs and 0-2 on fourth-down tries against the Cardinal — with both of those failed fourth down attempts leading to Stanford touchdowns.

UCLA, meanwhile, has been excellent in this area on defense, allowing opponents to convert just 31 percent of their third-down attempts (32-for-103) and only three of 11 fourth-down tries.

Colorado’s defense has also been susceptible here, allowing opponents to convert 45 percent of their third downs (46-102) and more than 50 percent of fourth down attempts (7-13).

The Buffs have to flip the script here. Colorado has to keep drives alive by converting those third downs — and also be judicious when electing to take those fourth-down gambles.

… Continue reading story here …

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October 26th

… CU in a few minutes … 

*Coach Prime’s College Football Coaches Show*

From Colorado football … Show doesn’t actually start until about the 11 minute mark …

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Tight end Michael Harrison: Stanford was “a wake-up call for everybody”

From the Daily Camera … Had the Buffs held their big lead and got the win against Stanford, they’d be just one win away from bowl eligibility. As it stands, they’ve got to win two of the last five – three of which are against Top 25-ranked teams and all five are against teams that currently have winning records.

Harrison said the loss to Stanford was “a wake-up call for everybody,” but that the mindset this week has been to focus on the good things they did to get their big lead.

“It’s been positive, I think,” Harrison said of the mood in the locker room this week. “Coach Prime’s done a really good job of projecting the positivity, like carrying it from the first half. Obviously the second half, it is what it is; it’s in the past. He’s done a good job as our leader just promoting what we did in the first half and making sure that that’s what we come out and do for two halves of football.”

When the Buffs are on their game – as they were in the first half against Stanford, or the second half of a 48-41 loss to USC – they are really good and tough to beat. When they’re not on – as they were in the second half against Stanford and the first half against USC – they look like a bottom of the Pac-12 type of team.

They’re aiming to finally put together a complete game as they head to Los Angeles this week.

“We’ve shown you guys, we’ve shown the rest of the country that we can be dominant when we want to,” Harrison said. “So, (Sanders) has done a good job of keeping everyone’s head up, keeping everyone positive coming off of the bye week. Just putting us in the best headspace to be dominant this weekend against UCLA.”

… Continue reading story here …

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October 25th

… CU in a few minutes … 

*Video: TE Coach Tim Brewster: Patience is not an option*

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ESPN In-depth profile: “How Deion Sanders’ NFL career foreshadowed Coach Prime”

From ESPN … Before there was Coach Prime, there was Deion Sanders, the electrifying football star.

The brand would come later, a mélange of highlight-reel plays and compelling sound bites and commercials, even a rap album that helped preserve Sanders’ place as a sports figure who transcended generations.

The persona was largely forged on the NFL field, where the six-time All-Pro and two-time Super Bowl winner was feared as a cornerback, a return man and occasionally as a wide receiver, but he also ran track in college and moonlighted with a nine-year career in Major League Baseball after being drafted by the Yankees in 1988.

Neon Deion did it all with an incomparable style.

But a constant theme in Sanders’ NFL story, noted by nearly everyone ESPN contacted about their experience with him as a pro between 1989 and 2005, was not Sanders’ flamboyance or even his preternatural athletic abilities. It was the work.

“On the field it was about how good could he be,” said Brad Johnson, who was Sanders’ teammate at Florida State and in the NFL. “The game wasn’t going to be on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. That was work.”

With the nationwide excitement Sanders has generated in college football as Colorado’s head coach, ESPN reached out to teammates and coaches across all eras of Sanders’ NFL career to provide a portrait of what made him exceptional between the lines on Sundays.

… Continue reading story here …

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October 24th

… CU in a few minutes … 

*Coach Prime’s Weekly Press Conference*

From BuffsTV … OT Savion Washington back practicing … Safety Trevor Woods seeing time at linebacker … Self-scouting: CU coaches spent bye week preparing a scouting report for each player … Penalties reviewed – Coach promising better results on the field …

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CU unveils Strategic Plan for 2024-26

… The 20-page Strategic Plan Book can be found here …

Press release from CUBuffs.com … When Colorado Athletic Director Rick George arrived in Boulder in 2013, one of the first major strategies he employed was the implementation of a three-year CU Athletics Strategic Plan that began in 2014.

Now more than a decade into the job, George and the Colorado Buffaloes are unveiling the most recent strategic plan for the three year period from 2024-26, the fourth plan in George’s tenure as athletic director.

This latest three-year plan, which will retain common threads from the first three: aspirational but achievable competitive goals for each sport; continued fiscal responsibility throughout the department; and, most importantly, a continued commitment to providing a world-class experience for Buffs student athletes.

“College athletics is at a cross roads,” George said. “This is the moment in time where we need to set ourselves up for a prosperous future.  Much as the last plan was crucial toward guiding us through a pandemic and one of the most unstable eras in college athletics history, this plan will be a guiding force to best set us up for immediate and future success on and off the playing field.”

This is the second plan that also features a dedicated concept that CU officials believe will continue to enhance every aspect of the student-athlete experience: the Crawford Family WHOLE athlete (Wellness, Health, Optimal Life Experience).

“Student-athletes are always at the forefront of our decision making,” George said. “Dr. Teresa Hernandez and her team have done an excellent job establishing the Crawford Family WHOLE Student-Athlete Program to enhance the lives of our student-athletes and it needs to remain a focal point of our overall strategic plan.”

This latest plan does change the mission of the athletic department to further embrace the WHOLE student athlete concept, stating “CU Athletics will win championships and develop WHOLE Student-Athletes by growing revenue, making strategic investments, and building a world-class infrastructure.”

Developed in large part by CU Arts and Sciences Associate Dean for Research Dr. Theresa Hernandez, a professor of behavioral neuroscience, the WHOLE athlete’s goal is to improve every student-athlete program in order to make each athlete’s experience at CU as beneficial as possible.  This involves several programs including CU’s Herbst Academic Center, Diversity and Inclusive Excellence programs, the Scripps Leadership and Career Development Program and health and wellness programs.

One of the big changes with this plan was the re-defining of the core values.  The core values of Respect, Accountability, Passion, Integrity and

Dedication (RAPID) remain constant, but definitions of each have changed to better fit our culture in today’s landscape.

• Respect: The willingness to honor and embrace the diverse perspectives and inherent worth of individuals through listening and empathy.
• Accountability: Being responsible for agreed upon standards, decisions, actions and results that impact CU Athletics.
• Passion: Personal motivation, shared energy, and action for student-athlete and department success.
• Integrity: To act in alignment with shared expectations in an honest and transparent manner.
• Dedication: The commitment and perseverance to find the best ethical solutions and practices to achieve our vision and mission.

Those definitions came about after asking every staff member in the department for feedback and George read every single response and that feedback was implemented into the new definitions.

One constant through each Strategic Plan has been the CU Athletic Department’s vision: “To be nationally recognized as a premier athletics department, by providing a world-class and holistic Student-Athlete experience, operating in a fiscally responsible manner, while consistently competing for and winning championships.”

Along with a commitment to the WHOLE athlete concept, the plan also includes five major constructs that have been identified, Nationally Recognized, Winning Championships, Operating in a Fiscally Responsible Manner, Developing WHOLE Student-Athletes and Building a world class infrastructure.

Those five constructs were organized into three strategic intents:

1. Utilize our resources to win championships at the University of Colorado Boulder
2. Significantly improve development of the WHOLE Student-Athlete by building a culture and programs that create a world-class infrastructure in CU Athletics at the University of Colorado Boulder
3. Significantly improve the revenue and strategic investments of CU Athletics at the University of Colorado Boulder

Each of the three strategic intents consist of strategic and tactical objectives, with the strategic objectives having specific focal point goals for the next three years and the tactical objectives detailing check points with similar goals.

These focal points and check points first raised eyebrows when initially implemented in the first strategic plan because it clearly defined high goals for each CU sport. Some of those goals include winning at least one Pac-12 championship in football, men’s and women’s basketball, soccer and lacrosse between 2024-25. Other sports have even higher targets, with men’s and women’s cross country and skiing aiming for NCAA championships.

“When we started this, everybody was surprised that we would put those goals out publicly,'” George said. “But I think you have to put your goals out there for people to see and then communicate where you are in the process. Our coaches were engaged in developing what those metrics look like and that’s important. Everybody has to have buy-in as to where we’re headed.”

All of CU’s student-athlete initiatives are aided by support from donors. For more information on how to donate through the CU Buff Club, go to CUBuffClub.com.

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October 23rd

… CU in a few minutes … 

Savion Washington back at practice; UCLA adds more seats

From the Daily Camera … Right tackle Savion Washington, who missed the last two games with an injury, is back in the mix and practiced on Monday.

… UCLA previously announced that Saturday’s game at the Rose Bowl was sold out, with a cap on tickets at 67,066.

The Rose Bowl holds nearly 90,000 fans, but UCLA typically tarps off several sections of the stadium. On Monday, however, it was announced that UCLA is moving two tarps and increasing capacity to 70,865 for Saturday’s game.

The game is still sold out, according to UCLA. CU has played in front of sold out stadiums in every game so far this season.

What now?

CU’s theme of the week from Coach Prime is “What Now?”

“What you gonna with your now?” he said to the team on Tuesday. “We have a limited number of games to do what we planned on doing. It still can be done, but we need to understand what now? How do we practice now? How do we go about preparation now? How do we study now? How do we lift now? How do we take care of bodies now? How do we get here on time now? How do we hold each other accountable now? What are we gonna do with our now? That’s very important, that’s very vital.”

… Read full story here …

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Another (late night) national telecast: CU v. Oregon State set for 8:00 p.m., MT, kickoff

Press release from CUBuffs.com …

The Colorado Buffaloes Homecoming football game against Oregon State on Saturday, November 4, 2023, will kickoff at 8:00 p.m. MT and be televised by ESPN, the conference announced Monday morning.

The full schedule of Pac-12 games for that week is below:

Saturday, November 4, 2023
11:00am PT / 12:00pm MT – Arizona State at Utah (Pac-12 Network)
2:30pm PT – Cal at Oregon (Pac-12 Network)
4:30pm PT – Washington at USC (ABC)
6:00pm PT – Stanford at Washington State (Pac-12 Network)
7:00pm PT / 8:00pm MT – Oregon State at Colorado (ESPN)
7:30pm PT – UCLA at Arizona (FS1)

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Stopping UCLA’s running game; recharging CU’s running game key to upset bid

From the Daily Camera … The Buffs have to learn from that loss to Stanford, but avoid letting any of the disappointment carry over into this week.

Continue stopping the run: For the season, the Buffs are 10th in the Pac-12 against the run, allowing 157.43 yards per game and 4.44 yards per carry. However, they’ve done a much better job in recent weeks.

In the first four games, CU allowed 206.5 rushing yards per game and 5.33 yards per carry. In the past three games, however, the Buffs have allowed 92 yards per game and 2.97 per carry.

For CU to have success against UCLA and the rest of what is a difficult schedule, it has to continue slowing down the run. UCLA is second in the Pac-12 – and eighth nationally – with 215.57 rushing yards per game.

Get the running game going: CU has a plethora of talented running backs. It just hasn’t shown up on game days yet. Part of it is the offensive line needs to do a better job, but the backs haven’t really got on track yet.

CU is last in the Pac-12 with 86.29 rushing yards per game and they haven’t really used their three most experienced backs this season. Sy’veon Wilkerson (2,322 career yards), Kavosiey Smoke (1,550) and Alton McCaskill (1,006) have a combined 103 yards on 34 carries this year.

Whether it’s Anthony Hankerson, Dylan Edwards or the trio of veterans, the Buffs have to get the run game going to take pressure off Sanders and the passing game.

… Read full story here …

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October 22nd 

… CU in a few minutes … 

Pac-12 lines: CU opens as a three-score underdog to UCLA (the only road underdog in the conference this week)

From DraftKings.com …

Pac-12 …

• No. 8 Oregon at No. 13 Utah … 1:30 p.m., MT, Fox … Oregon is a 4.0-point road favorite
• No. 24 USC at California … 2:00 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks … USC is a 9.0-point road favorite
• No. 5 Washington at Stanford … 5:00 p.m., MT, FS1 … Washington is a 26.0-point road favorite
• Colorado at No. 23 UCLA … 5:30 p.m., MT, ABC … UCLA is a 17.0-point home favorite 
• Washington State at Arizona State … 6:00 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks … Washington State is a 7.0-point road favorite
• No. 11 Oregon State at Arizona … 8:30 p.m., MT, ESPN … Oregon State is a 5.0-point road favorite …

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October 21st

… CU in a few minutes … 

A.J. Hill commitment merits ESPN article: “I’m the next man up”

From ESPN … Colorado added an important recruit Friday when ESPN Junior 300 quarterback Antwann Hill Jr. announced his commitment to coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes.

Hill is the No. 49 prospect overall in the 2025 class and the No. 4 quarterback. He is a 6-foot-5, 215-pound recruit out of Houston County High School in Warner Robins, Georgia, who had offers from Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, LSU, Florida State and plenty of others.

He had recently taken a visit to Colorado for its game against Stanford on Oct. 13, which he said was a big part of what got him to commit.

“The crowd, fans yelling my name, saying, ‘We want AJ,'” Hill said. “That was one thing I haven’t seen before and I wasn’t expecting from that visit. So I mean, everything really just surprised me.

“That felt good, because it’s a very supportive fan base that’s all behind the team.”

Hill is the first top-300 high school quarterback to pick Colorado since Sanders’ arrival. Sanders was able to get his son Shedeur Sanders to transfer from Jackson State, but the staff has not added a potential replacement until now.

“[The coaches] really think I really fit their scheme, what they got going on up there,” Hill said. “Coach [Sean] Lewis, Coach Prime, they really want me to take over once Shedeur leaves, so I mean, I’d be the next guy up that will be a highly ranked quarterback to get that position. And I feel like I’d be good learning from Shedeur. Just taking notes from him, taking his leadership skills and putting them into mine. Really, they were saying, be ready to take over once Shedeur leaves because I’m the next man up.”

… Continue reading story here …

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October 20th

… CU in a few minutes … 

Injury update: OT Savion Washington back practicing

From the Daily Camera … Linebacker Juwan Mitchell missed the Stanford game and didn’t appear to be on the sidelines. Asked about Mitchell’s absence, Sanders said, “Ask him what happened.” Mitchell hasn’t been available for comment, but the senior has been seen in video this week practicing with the team. … Offensive tackle Savion Washington, who has missed the last two games with an injury, appeared to be back at practice this week, as he was seen in helmet and uniform. … Cornerback Travis Jay played just one snap against Stanford. He told Well Off Media he is about 90 percent healthy and “getting there” on the path to 100 percent.

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October 19th

… CU in a few minutes … 

Can CU regroup in the second half?

From CBS Sports … The 2023 college football season marks the end of an era in many ways. The structure of conferences and how the national championship is decided will be markedly different beginning in 2024, and that’s why every twist and turn in the 2023 season has been all the more special. Programs that have not been in the spotlight in a decade or more surging back to prominence brings out the nostalgia for a bygone era, while thrilling battles between conference rivals are hitting a little different knowing many of these schools will no longer have that annual date on the schedule after this season.

When we return for the 2024 season, the Big 12 will no longer run through the Red River Rivalry but will include the Territorial Cup and Holy War. The ACC will still have “Atlantic Coast” in the name but include conference road trips out to Berkley, California, and Dallas, Texas. No. 18 USC and No. 25 UCLA will be playing road conference games in College Park, Maryland, and Piscataway, New Jersey, respectively. The sheer size of these conferences (four will be in excess of 16 teams) could lead to all kinds of headaches when trying to sort out conference title game tiebreakers.

Those conference title races will take heightened importance with a 12-team College Football Playoff format that currently includes automatic bids for conference champions. The days of “Who’s In?” conversations with a laser focus on the top 4-6 teams in the country will be replaced by a two-prong look at the playoff that identifies the individual conference races and the best available teams at the same time. The CFP believes it will keep more fans engaged with the playoff race deeper into the year; however, additional games bring their own concerns for logistics, player well-being and fitting the new bracket into a calendar that’s already crammed with transfer portal activity, Early Signing Day and semester endings at many schools.

But what’s nice about the 2023 season to this point is that the uncertainty we have in our present is much less daunting than the uncertainty we have in college football’s future. We don’t know how the 2023 season will end because there is actual debate regarding the top teams in the country.

Let’s dive into some of the big storylines to follow over the second half of the 2023 season …

How Colorado regroups

Though every week has felt like the biggest week of the season for Colorado, the bye this week for the Buffaloes might be the most important. The vibes were immaculate amid a 3-0 start to the season. At 4-2 following losses to Pac-12 powers Oregon and USC, the path to a bowl game was still clear. Now, at 4-3 after a double-overtime home loss to Stanford during which Colorado blew a 29-point halftime lead, the postseason future is much less clear. A roster that includes more than 50 players from the transfer portal has to spend the bye working together to refocus for a tough final stretch during which the Buffs may be an underdog in every single game. And all of this is being done under a spotlight commanded by Colorado and first-year coach Deion Sanders since the first week of the season with the college football media and the Coach Prime media empire taking in every detail and broadcasting it to the masses.

If Colorado football in 2023 is a reality show, this is the low point where the protagonists must face hard truths about what’s happened and choose to either change the outcomes or crash and burn. The final five games are all against teams who also currently have a winning record with three being ranked in the current AP Top 25 and at least two (Oregon State, Utah) who are in the thick of the aforementioned Pac-12 title race. Three of the five games are on the road and one of those games will be on short rest with a Friday night showdown at Washington State following the final home game against Arizona. If Colorado gets home with a 2-3 finish or better, it’s one of the biggest stories of the season. If the Buffs burn out, it will be as well. Either way, we’ll be watching.

… Read full story here …

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October 18th

… CU in a few minutes … 

Buffs to take a four-day break – Coach Prime to team: “Come back with the right attitude and work habits”

From the Daily Camera … After a few days of work, the Colorado Buffaloes are taking some time off to refocus and gear up for the final five weeks of the season.

Following a disappointing, 46-43 double-overtime loss to Stanford last Friday at Folsom Field, the Buffs practiced for a few days, wrapping up their work week on Tuesday.

CU (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) is taking a four-day break before gathering again to practice on Sunday as it prepares for a visit to No. 25 UCLA (4-2, 1-2) on Oct. 28 (5:30 p.m. MT, ABC).

Head coach Deion Sanders addressed the team before Tuesday’s practice, telling them, “Come back with the right attitude and work habits that’s gonna propel us to where we wanna go. That’s undefeated in these next several games.”

In Sanders’ first season as the Buffs’ head coach, they’ve exceeded expectations in many ways, but the loss to Stanford was damaging to their bowl hopes.

“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished thus far,” Sanders told the team as they concluded practice on Tuesday. “We feel like we should be much better, we should be much farther down the road. I know you do, I feel like that as well, but we know what task is at hand.

“If we give up one we’re supposed to win, that means we’ve got to take one that they don’t think we’re gonna win. So, let’s just take one and we’ll be right back where we need to be. Let’s flush that, put it behind us. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do (against Stanford). Now we’ve got to exceed abundantly above all that they think we’re gonna do.”

… Continue reading story here …

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Big 12 commissioner: Eight v. nine game conference schedule being discussed; schedule out “in 45 days”

From the Daily Camera … “I’ve been visiting their campuses and their ADs have been integrated into our ecosystem already, as their presidents have,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said. “They’ve only got 10 months to transition in, so we’ve got a lot of work to do together but we’re focused not only on the current conference, but where this thing is going in the future and the four-corner schools play a big role.”

… As for the football schedule and whether the Big 12 would go to eight- or nine-game conference slates in the future, Yormark said, “We’re working on it right now.”

He added that the football schedule could be announced, “Probably in the next 45 days.” On Tuesday at the Big 12 women’s basketball media day, he told reporters a schedule could come out, “Sometime late November, December.”

In coming up with the football schedule, Yormark told BuffZone, “We’re going to be very diligent about that process now that there’s four new schools. We’re focused on the competitive balance, we’re focused on geography, we’re looking at rivalries and historic matchups. Those are our four guiding principles, and we’re working through it. We had AD meetings last week, where we continue to vet out all the possibilities and we’ll get there.”

Yormark said the 16-team conference will not split into divisions.

… Read full story here …

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October 17th

… CU in a few minutes … 

Coach Prime book, “Elevate and Dominate”, due out in March

From ESPN … Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders has counted the ways to success.

The Gallery Books imprint 13a announced Tuesday that Sanders’ “Elevate and Dominate: 21 Ways to Win On and Off the Field,” will be published March 12, 2024. The NFL and college football Hall of Famer, now head coach of college’s Colorado Buffaloes, will draw upon his own experience in offering guidelines for life and work.

“Success isn’t just about what you achieve between the lines on game day or stacking up money that you may never get to fully enjoy. It’s about winning in ALL ASPECTS of life,” Sanders said in a statement. “From the mindset you cultivate, the discipline you uphold, and your faith in God — champions aren’t born; they’re made, day by day, choice by choice and decision by decision. You’ve got to BE CONSISTENT and BELIEVE every darn step of the way.”

Sanders is also the author of a memoir, “Power, Money & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life,” which came out in 1999.

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ESPN mid-season report: Taking stock of Colorado

From ESPN … Colorado’s poor finish could be a bad omen

From the moment Colorado rallied past Arizona State on Oct. 7, Deion Sanders focused on the team’s habit for slow starts, saying he was “sick of it,” even after the Buffaloes rallied for their fourth win. Colorado answered its coach Friday night, storming out to a 29-0 halftime lead against one-win Stanford, scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions and outgaining the Cardinal 324-114. “Finally put it together … like I desired,” Sanders said. The Buffs were 30 minutes away from a 5-2 start — well ahead of every external prediction for the season — and a well-timed open week. For a team that had outscored its first six opponents 126-84 in the second half, and 89-42 from the third quarter on, victory seemed secure.

But the Buffs unraveled in the second half and overtime, allowing Stanford to score on its final six possessions, including a 97-yard drive. There were substitution errors, penalties and other mistakes. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who had shown his standard brilliance with five touchdown passes, made a rare poor decision in overtime, flinging the ball toward the end zone, where it was easily intercepted. Colorado’s flaws have been there all season, even in the first half Friday, as Stanford receivers sneaked behind Travis Hunter and others. But the Buffs had masked them fairly well, mainly because of Shedeur Sanders.

“When you’re playing like you’re playing, you don’t want a bye week, you want to work it out, you want to make it happen,” a visibly frustrated Deion Sanders said. “I wish we could play next week, I really do.”

Instead, they have two weeks to stew as bowl eligibility is suddenly in doubt. For all the hype about the September schedule, Colorado’s slate is truly backloaded. Four of the Buffs’ remaining opponents — UCLA, Oregon State, Washington State and Utah — entered Saturday ranked in the top 20, and the fifth, Arizona, is clearly improved. Although the excitement and attention around Deion Sanders and his team likely will remain, the tone of the season seemed to shift early Saturday morning at Folsom Field.

My five favorite 2023 transfers so far

1-2. QB Shedeur Sanders and CB/WR Travis Hunter, Colorado. Granted, the bloom’s coming off the rose a bit in Boulder following Friday night’s collapse and loss to Stanford, but the Buffaloes are still 4-3 and have already won three more games than they did last season. Deion Sanders brought in more than 50 transfers for his first season in charge, but honestly he probably could have stopped at about five as long as these two were among them.

Granted, Shedeur Sanders takes far too many sacks (34 in seven games), and Sean Lewis’ offense asks for way too much from the quarterback position — the run game and any semblance of game management seem secondary to having the QB rack up stats. But that doesn’t change the fact that Sanders has a shot at 4,500 passing yards and 40 touchdowns, at least if the Buffs can get bowl-eligible. Hunter, meanwhile, immediately resumed his 100-plus-snaps-per-game pace after returning from a lacerated liver and produced a stat line we’ve come to expect: 13 catches, 140 yards, 2 touchdowns and 5 tackles. He took some serious hits, and he got Moss’d by Elic Ayomanor at the end of the game, but he’s still CU’s second-best player at absolute worst.

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October 16th

… CU in a few minutes … 

Not tired of CU yet: CU at UCLA to be nationally televised on ABC

Press release from CUBuffs.com … The Colorado Buffaloes football game at UCLA on Saturday, October 28, 2023, will kickoff at 5:30 p.m. MT/4:30 p.m. local time and be televised by ABC, the conference announced Monday morning.

The full schedule of Pac-12 games is below:

Week 6 lineup: Saturday, October 28, 2023 

12:30pm PT / 1:30pm MT – Oregon at Utah (FOX)

1:00pm PT – USC at Cal (Pac-12 Network)
4:00pm PT – Washington at Stanford (FS1)
4:30pm PT / 5:30pm MT – Colorado at UCLA (ABC)
5:00pm PT – Washington State at Arizona State (Pac-12 Network)
7:30pm PT – Oregon State at Arizona (ESPN)

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Coach Prime: “It’s not a good time for a bye week. I wish we could play again next week. I really do”

From the Daily Camera …Colorado didn’t waste much time in getting back on the practice field.

Following a crushing, 46-43 come-from-ahead double-overtime loss to Stanford on Friday night, the Buffaloes conducted a practice on Saturday morning.

CU (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) doesn’t play until Oct. 28 at No. 25 UCLA (4-2, 1-2), which is unfortunate in the eyes of head coach Deion Sanders.

“It’s not a good time for a bye week,” Sanders said after watching his team cough up a 29-0 halftime lead in Friday’s loss to Stanford. “I mean, if you’re having problems where you’re injured and you have quite a few injuries, it’s a good time for a bye week, but when you’re playing like you playing, you don’t want a bye week. You want to work it out. You want to make it happen. I wish we could play again next week. I really do.”

The Buffs do have some injuries, as most teams do, but the main task now is getting mentally right after what could be a devastating loss.

… Continue reading story here …

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October 15th

… CU in a few minutes … 

Rooney: Make no mistake, this was 100% a squandering

From the Daily Camera … Give Colorado credit for this much.

The Buffaloes stared down one of their most consistent shortcomings — the habit of starting games sluggishly — and kicked things off with a bang against the Cardinal.

Unfortunately for the Buffs, they also have struggled to consistently put full 60-minute games together. In the aftermath of a hollowed-out, deflated Folsom Field not long after Friday turned into Saturday, that bad habit lingered over the program like a bad stench.

It was a meltdown of epic proportions under the Friday night lights for CU, as the new-look Buffs for the first time this year looked very much like the old-look Buffs while blowing a 29-point lead against Stanford in a stunning 46-43 defeat in double overtime.

Superlatives and program-firsts were abundant for both sides. But the one that matters the most as the Buffs attempt to regroup during a bye in hopes of still salvaging a bowl bid is this — no CU team has ever squandered a lead larger than the 29-0 advantage the Buffs held at halftime.

And make no mistake, this was 100% a squandering. No disrespect to Stanford, which didn’t stop fighting when it easily could have done so, but no team wastes a four-touchdown lead (and a cushy one at that, given the trick-play two-pointer that pushed the score to 29) without the bulk of the wounds being self-inflicted. And those wounds arrived from all corners, with offense, defense, special teams and coaching miscues all too numerous to sort through in a lone column.

… Continue reading story here …

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Neill Woelk’s Takeaways – start with penalties: “Not being smart. Not being disciplined. Not understanding the moment. That’s what that is”

From CUBuffs.com … The guess here is that roughly half the people in America who were watching Friday night’s Colorado-Stanford game went to bed at halftime, believing the Buffaloes’ had things firmly in control after dominating the first two quarters and taking a 29-0 lead at the break.

Only when they woke up Saturday morning did they discover that the Buffs also apparently decided to take a nap after intermission. The result was a second half collapse that allowed the Cardinal to tie the game at 36-36 at the end of regulation and finally collect a 46-43 win in two overtimes.

Now, the biggest question for Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ Buffs (4-3 overall, 1-3 Pac-12) is how they respond from here on out. They’ll have a chance to lick their wounds this week thanks to a bye week, but the grind returns the following week in a big way as CU’s final five games feature four teams that were ranked in the top 20 in the nation this week, beginning with an Oct. 28 game at UCLA.

“You have no choice but to go forward, that’s life,” a clearly irate Coach Prime said after the game. “This isn’t the only thing that’s going on in life … A lot of things that go on in life are unexpected and this was one of them. We’ve got to knuckle up and let’s go. We can’t sit down and have a pity party.”

The next couple of weeks will be critical for the Buffs, who have lost three of their last four after a 3-0 start to the season that had them ranked in the nation’s top 25. Certainly, Sanders and his staff will be doing their best to figure out how a team that played a near-perfect first half suffered such a complete collapse.

There will be plenty to study.

An offense that looked unstoppable in the first half looked stuck in the mud in the second. CU punted three times, gave the ball away near midfield twice on downs and scored just one touchdown in the third and fourth quarters combined.

A defense that blanked the Cardinal for two quarters gave up 408 yards and 46 points after intermission as Stanford scored on its last eight possessions (six touchdowns and two field goals). Seldom-used Stanford receiver Elic Ayomanor burned the Buffs for 13 catches for 294 yards — 194 after the catch — with touchdowns covering 97, 60 and 30 yards, and he picked up a significant number of those yards while working against Travis Hunter, Colorado’s best defender.

But there were plenty of other factors that contributed to the shocking loss. Our weekly takeaways:

1. Penalties. We’ll start with perhaps the most egregious Colorado problem area of the night — 17 flags for 127 yards.

Sanders had a simple explanation: “Not being smart. Not being disciplined. Not understanding the moment. That’s what that is.”

Nobody who watched the game will argue. More than half of CU’s penalties — nine — were unforced errors, the kind that are easily avoidable. The list included four illegal substitution flags on the defense (three in the second half), two false starts, two for unsportsmanlike conduct and one delay of game.

How big of a factor were the penalties? Figure this: three of Stanford’s second-half touchdowns were aided by penalties on the Buffs.

Those are problem areas that can be fixed — and must be fixed if the Buffs are going to bounce back and have a successful stretch run.

… Continue reading story here …

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Coach Prime spoofed on Saturday Night Live (pretty funny, actually)

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This post, about the UCLA game, from the 2023 Season, is filed under Article.
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